Mill Creek HOn30

[peteski]

Yeah the edges rounded off just from handling them. I did emboss all 6 sizes of each block with a real piece of rock.

Now I wonder if I can make them out of clay and bake to harden them. I could slice the clay (I think) and emboss them the same with out the edges crumbling away.

I would imagine  that in H0 scale those cut blocks would either be smooth or have tooling marks (not just rock texture).  I still think that if you sliced them form the same material you sued for the quarry  walls, they would look better.   

[davefoxx]

This might work. I made these out of balsa foam. I was searching how to seal it and many said just use spray paint. It isn't really foam so teh paint doesn't attack it. But it will take a while to paint them all 

I'm so glad that you modeled the pile of detritus dumped into the large pile in the pit.  For some reason, it's one detail that stood out to me in the proto photo.  I'm for the suggestion to model the slabs from the same material that you used for the pit, i.e., foam.  What can I say?  Foam depot needs some new foam friends.

Oh, and go easy on the embossing of stone texture.  Those slabs would be as smooth as the pit walls.  Just add the remnants of the drill marks, perhaps.

DFF

[DKS]

I'm for the suggestion to model the slabs from the same material that you used for the pit, i.e., foam.

Ditto.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wait, what about tile like @coosvalley used for his canal walls?

[DKS]

Wait, what about tile like @coosvalley used for his canal walls?

Too thin, and the edges are too rough.

[Dave V]

What about balsa wood from Hobby Lobby?  They have a set full of random sizes and thicknesses up to the size of your big slabs.  You can cut and sand it to have decently clean edges...  It's cheap too, so if you mess it up it's no biggie.  Should be easy to seal for painting too.

Just a thought.

Oh, and I think this is my current favorite layout build thread.  Per usual, LOL.

[DKS]

Honestly, Chris should have loads of scrap foam sheet left over from which to make an endless supply of stone blocks. Slice 'em up, add a couple of coats of paint, and they'll be ready to use. Also, the model scene as it stands is a just tad too neat--look at the reference photo: add a liberal amount of blocks, scraps, and debris to the scene. (Disregard if that was the plan.)

Oh, and I think this is my current favorite layout build thread.  Per usual, LOL.

Ditto.

 

[peteski]

Honestly, Chris should have loads of scrap foam sheet left over from which to make an endless supply of stone blocks. Slice 'em up, add a couple of coats of paint, and they'll be ready to use.

Hey, even our own DKS supports my recommendation.    Better modeling through peer pressure Chris. Dump those clay "blocks"! 

[Chris333]

Well the walls are just blue foam, but I had to seal all the 1000 small pin holes. Doing that to 100 blocks doesn't sound like fun. And I don't know how well the foam will emboss.

I'll try it later.

[wm3798]

You can airbrush the foam blocks with acrylic to seal them with a good primer coat (faster than brushing), then spray mists of the highlight colors or use washes to weather them.

[peteski]

Well the walls are just blue foam, but I had to seal all the 1000 small pin holes. Doing that to 100 blocks doesn't sound like fun. And I don't know how well the foam will emboss.

I'll try it later.

Why do you insist on embossing? The blocks will be smooth with some (probably invisible in H0 scale) tool marks.
 As for sealing the holes, you could probably poke a wire in the bottom of each block and dip the blocks in some thick paint (like latex house paint).

[DKS]

Well the walls are just blue foam, but I had to seal all the 1000 small pin holes. Doing that to 100 blocks doesn't sound like fun. And I don't know how well the foam will emboss.

I'll try it later.

As Peteski says, why emboss anything? These blocks are surprisingly smooth in real life. At most I'd maybe add some very fine sand to some cheap acrylic paint for a hint of texture. But if you cut the blocks with a fine saw (as opposed to a knife), that should work too. Me, I'd lay down a few strips of cheap double-sided tape on a throw-away work surface (cardboard), stick all of the blocks to the tape, and slap on the same paint as what you used for the quarry. At the end, brush on some powdered chalk to keep everything super-flat and to add that patina of dust that quarries always have.

[Chris333]

I got the slate roof on the mill and put up the fascia:


And here are the foam blocks. I'm happy with the shape since they aren't perfectly flat. I even sliced a paper thin piece off the top of the foam because it had a different surface. But look at all those pin holes and this is after 2 coats of latex house paint.

The foam will work, but I need to find a better (or faster) way to seal them up.

[CRL]

Spackling compound.

[Bendtracker1]

Chris could a quick swipe of your finger with some light weight spackling do the trick to fill the offending holes?

CRL just beat me to it.